by John Dowd
Wilderness survival is an important skill, especially when one wants to spend a lot of time in the woods. According to Statista, hundreds of thousands of people go missing every year in the U.S. The site declares that in 2021, the number of missing was just over 500,000 people. To combat this, there are surprisingly few courses people can take to learn how to better their chances of surviving.
One such person working to help give wilderness explorers and recreationists an edge in these dangerous situations is Lee Scharff. Scharff is holding a survival class in late January, which still has several open seats. “I’m helping people, that’s my nature,” said Scharff. According to him, there are more people getting out into the wilderness than ever before. During his time in Search and Rescue (SAR), he found that originally, they worked mostly during hunting season and had only a few odd cases of a climber or hiker getting lost or injured. In recent years, he said that SAR professionals seem to be working year round.
Scharff worked for the Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks as a snowmobile instructor and was involved with the Ravalli County Search and Rescue for many years. In the U.S. Air Force, he worked on electronics for missile launch control systems. After his service, he worked with aircraft control for traffic between airports, but found that type of work was not for him. Eventually, he found himself as a UPS driver and was proud of his work there. After retiring in 1991, he moved to the Bitterroot Valley and quickly followed his passion of exploring the outdoors, and joined Search and Rescue. He would do this until the late 90’s. Along the way, he began teaching wilderness survival classes for various groups, including the Forest Service and Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks. Eventually, Scharff held the position of President of the local SAR.
Burleigh Curtis, the current president of the Ravalli County Search and Rescue who took the position over after Scharff retired, spoke of his predecessor. “When we went on missions, he ran a tight ship and he definitely knew what he was doing. I learned a lot from him,” said Curtis. Echoing Schaff’s thoughts, Curtis expressed his reasoning for participating with SAR as “working with a bunch of guys with a common cause, which is helping people.” For Curtis, that is one of the most important parts of what they do. When speaking on Scharff, Curtis remarked, “He’s got loads of experience.” Curtis explained how Scharff was always on what were known at the time as the ‘Hasty’ teams. These were the first groups to get out into the woods to look for lost persons. Both men found during their time with SAR that, as Curtis put it, “The main thing we find is how many people go out unprepared.”
Scharff said his inspiration for holding these classes was his love for the outdoors and his experiences growing up on a farm in the Midwest. He said that he grew up hunting, fishing and camping in the area. For him, going out prepared was a way of life. He wants to impress these lessons onto his students. He also loves teaching because, “you learn something all the time from your students.” For him, it keeps his skills sharp, and makes him better at teaching.
His classes rarely follow any kind of strict order, and he will often start with a “show and tell” of objects related to survival. Some of these are fire starters, to give examples of ones that work and gimmicks that people should avoid. He will then often ask participants about themselves and what they want to get from the class. During this time, Scharff will learn about what kinds of activities his students plan to participate in when they eventually go into the wilderness. This time also helps him gauge their level of experience and where to concentrate his lessons to best help his students.
“I don’t want to hear ‘alone’ or ‘split up.’ Those are words I never want to hear,” said Scharff. He said that this is often how bad things happen, which is why they worked as teams in SAR. For him, search and rescue, and indeed survival, are simply “common sense.” According to Scharff, when they are searching for people, they would work through the situation logically and take the best course of action, or think about where the lost person’s mind might have taken them. With survival, said Scharff, one should follow a similar mindset. Scharff said his classes provide the skills that “could help you, a loved one, or a stranger, out in the woods.”
His upcoming class is an all adult class that will take place over four days over the course of two weeks, with no overnights. These are introduction-to-survival classes that will help get students into the mindset of survival, what to think about and what to bring with them to survive. According to Scharff, “Survival favors those most prepared.” His survival classes will have an emphasis on cold weather, but are general survival lessons that can be applied year round. Scharff said his students will need no prior survival knowledge or experience, and all equipment will be provided.
Classes will start January 30, and will go for two weeks, taking place Tuesdays and Thursdays, on the additional dates of Feb. 1, 6 and 8. They start at 6:30 p.m. and run until 8 p.m. To sign up, students must call or text Julie Bachman, at (406) 210-5129, to register. Once a person gets their registration form filled out, they can mail it to Lone Rock Adult Education, ATTN: Julie Bachman, 1112 Three Mile Creek Road, Stevensville, MT 59870. They can also email their registration to adulteducation@lonerockschool.org. The course costs a one-time fee of $25 which will be collected the first night of class. Seniors, 62 years and older, are eligible for a 50% discount.